Vice Premier Hui Liangyu visited an elders' residential home to mark the Double Ninth Festival, when elders are traditionally honored, which falls on Tuesday this year (the ninth day of the ninth lunar calendar month), Xinhua News Agency reported today.

"The aging population issue has not only come around somewhat earlier than expected but also developed rapidly," Hui said. "It will have a deep impact on the economy, society, culture and other fields of China."

"We should study and introduce more policies so as to solve problems associated with the aging issue and form an atmosphere that stresses respect and love for elders," he said.

The number of the Chinese aged 60 or above accounts for over 10 percent of the population, he noted, and more than 7 percent are aged 65 or above.

Hui said the thousand-year-old festival was one of the key virtues inherited from ancient China, and that letting the old enjoy the fruits of development is an important part of the ongoing process of building a comprehensively well-off society.

(Xinhua News Agency October 10, 2005)